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Nederland group threatens nurse-in after breastfeeding mom is told to 'wrap it up'

By Vanessa Miller Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
08/16/2010 08:15:12 PM MDT

Updated:
08/16/2010 08:17:41 PM MDT

Colorado breastfeeding law

25-6-301 states that breastfeeding is a basic and important act of nurturing that should be encouraged in the interests of maternal and infant health.

25-6-302 states that a mother may breastfeed in any place she has a right to be.

A group of Nederland mothers is speaking out in support of one of their own after the new mother said she was told to "wrap it up" while breastfeeding her infant inside the LoveSac store at the FlatIron Crossing mall last week.

The Nederland woman shared with friends that a store manager told her Thursday that LoveSac has a policy against breastfeeding and she needed to stop. Now the group of supporters is threatening to hold a "nurse-in" at the mall.

"I would really like them to issue a public statement saying that not only do they support breastfeeding women, but they support them breastfeeding in their stores," said supporter Kristine Lauria, of Nederland.

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Alex Rhodeen, director of sales and marketing for LoveSac, said company officials have talked with the FlatIron Crossing staff members about Colorado law and informed them the store does not have a policy prohibiting breastfeeding.

"I spoke to every employee and reminded them of the state statute," Rhodeen said.

He didn't ask the employees about the alleged incident or address the employee who was directly involved.

The woman who complained to her friends hasn't provided her name publicly or to the store.

"We take customers at their word," Rhodeen said. "Our response was simply that we reminded the staff of the statute and told them that breastfeeding is allowed anywhere a person is allowed to be."

Rhodeen said he responded to two e-mails he received about the incident.

"I apologized for our failure to apply common sense and good taste, which is our guiding principle at LoveSac," he said. "I told them that every member of the team had been spoken with."

The group of supporters has talked about gathering nursing mothers inside the LoveSac store to breastfeed, Lauria said, "to raise awareness that they are allowed to breastfeed anywhere they want.

"It's all about babies and food and not about anything else."

Colorado law allows a mother to breastfeed in any place that she has a right to be. Lauria, who has been a midwife for more than 20 years, said she views it as her responsibility to make sure businesses and women know the law and that women don't feel ashamed to breastfeed in public.

"This woman felt ashamed, and I was incensed by the fact that she felt ashamed that she was feeding her baby in public," she said.

Lauria went into the store Friday to talk to a manager about the incident. She said an employee told her that a lot of people were in the store at the time the woman decided to breastfeed and that it was inappropriate. Lauria said only one other couple was in the store when the new mother went in to look at chairs and stopped to nurse her daughter.

Lauria's 10-year-old son, Alessandro Lauria, was with his mom when she went to the store Friday and said he also was upset.

"I don't think people should go in the bathroom to breastfeed," Alessandro said. "It's like me going into the bathroom to eat a burrito. It just doesn't feel right."

Emily Wolf, of Nederland, said she supports the mother who was sent away from LoveSac because she suffered a similar humiliation on a United flight when her son was 6 months old.

"This kind of humiliation of breastfeeding mothers needs to be addressed, and businesses need to be educated as to why breastfeeding is not only legally allowed in all places, but should be encouraged and embraced in our society," Wolf said. "Breastfeeding mothers should not be made to feel like criminals or second-class citizens anymore."

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